Playing With The Big Boys
by Guardian of Hope
Summary: It started with alcohol, then they added magic and revenge. Rainbow Brotherhood 'Verse, set during Jungle Fury, Jungle Fury/Mystic Force crossover. WARNING NEW CHAPTER HAS SLASH!
1. Theo Had Been Warned!

Disclaimer: I do not own power rangers

A/N: My friend and I are challenging each other to write original stories, but then she gave me a prompt that screamed 'Power Rangers'. The prompt was Peer Pressure, and I've been wanting to write some Jungle Fury. The title is a song from the cartoon 'Prince of Egypt'.

* * *

Theo glared at Casey, "I hate you."

Casey rolled his eyes, "It's not like I tied you up and forced you."

"It was your idea," Theo pointed out.

"You asked for it," Casey replied.

"How?" Theo demanded in a whiney yet incredulous tone.

"You were the one who kept saying it wasn't fair I got to go," Casey replied as he stepped onto the forecourt of JKP. "I just invited you to come along. I did warn you."

Theo followed Casey miserably, "You didn't warn me about Conner and Nick."

"I didn't expect to see them," Casey replied, in the tone of one who has repeated himself more times than he really thought necessary.

"You didn't warn me about that stage at the Haven," Theo continued.

"I didn't think you'd be that kind of a drunk," Casey replied, "You, you aren't…" He paused, looking for a discreet way to say it as he opened the door and ushered Theo into the pizza parlor.

"Casey! Theo! Where on Earth have you been? RJ's been worried, you've missed work and," Fran stopped, staring at Theo, "Theo, what happened?"

Casey barely restrained a grin as the white haired, blue skinned, blue ranger tried to draw into himself even more. "We ran into a couple of friends," Casey said. "I'll check in with RJ and let Mack know he and Dax can go. Anything big go down?"

"No," Fran replied, "Dai Shi didn't attack or anything."

"Sweet," Casey grinned. He touched Fran's arm, "Sorry about the missing work thing. My friends decided we had to road trip and it sounded like this awesome idea so."

"Can we please," Theo interrupted, "tell this story some other time. Like when I don't look like a Smurf?"

"Theo!" Lily exclaimed, coming out of the kitchen at a near run, "Casey! You're back!"

Dom and RJ followed Lily in a cloud of flour, "Where have you been?" Dom asked.

"Can we tell this story later?" Theo said, "I need to take a shower." He pushed through the stunned group.

"Hey, Theo," Dom called, "you have something on your face."

Theo turned, and looked up enough for the distinctive cat whiskers to be visible, "Yes, Dom, I know, I look like a Smurf."

"Not exactly what he was talking about," Casey said. "I think Conner got creative with a magic marker."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Theo demanded.

"Um," Casey said, he looked at the ground.

"Casey," Theo growled.

"ImighthavehelpedhimandNick," Casey mumbled. He flinched as Theo snarled, "I was drunk, Theo! And we did warn you about going to sleep."

"I will have my revenge," Theo declared before storming into the kitchen.

"Casey," RJ began.

"I'm sorry, it's just, we ran into Conner and Nick while we were drunk and they were drunk and they said we should go see some friends and we did, and I didn't know it had been three days because we kept drinking and we decorated Theo at some point but I really don't remember much about that except…" Casey trailed off as Theo appeared at the kitchen door, shirtless, looking, if possible, even angrier than he had before. "Theo has a tail," he finished with a sigh. 


	2. Say it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers

A/N: Yes, I did add a second chapter. After all, the blue had to come off some how...

* * *

Theo had hidden in the loft for two days, trying to get the blue color off his skin. Finally, with Lily's unintended assistance, he managed to corner Casey. Then, armed with The Backstreet Boys, a couple of bees and his ability to tickle, he set about torturing the important information out of his red ranger. Thirty minutes later, minus a lecture from RJ on the depth of Casey's bee allergy, Theo was on the road. Three hours later, with Casey's instructions in mind, he walked into Briarwood's Rock Porium. The store was mostly empty, save a few employees stocking shelves. Theo studied them, and finally selected a young man in the comic book section who wore a yellow shirt under his employee shirt. "Excuse me," he said quietly.

"Can I help you?" The red head replied as he put the comic he was holding open on the shelf guiltily.

"My name is Theo Martin," Theo said, he kept his head tilted down, and strongly resisted the urge to reach up and pull either his hat or his hood further down, "my friend Casey Rhodes said I could find Nick Russell here, or someone who could contact him?"

"What do you want with Nick?" The guy asked.

Theo bit his lip, and glanced up, "I really, _really_ would like him to undo whatever it is he did."

"You're blue!" The guy yelped, taking a step back.

Theo's patients thinned, "Yes, I'm blue, and it's Nick's fault," he snapped. "Now, I would appreciate it if you could tell me how to get in touch with him so that he can undo this."

"Is everything all right?" Someone asked behind Theo.

Theo stiffened slightly, even as he identified the speaker, male, Australian, no doubt this was Xander, the Green Mystic Ranger. Theo turned, "I'm looking for Nick Russell, so he can undo this."

"And you are?" The man asked, crossing his arms and making his green undershirt slightly more visible.

"Theo Martin," Theo replied, "I'm Casey Rhodes's teammate."

"You work with him at that pizza place, Jungle Boogie or something, right?" Probably Xander asked.

"It's actually Jungle _Karma_ Pizza," Theo corrected.

"Right," Probably Xander flipped his hand, "What color are you?"

"What color are you?" Theo countered.

"Xander, what's going on?" The third employee had finally shown up and Theo could feel his face heating up as she studied him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Theo Martin, I'm from Ocean Bluffs, I work at Jungle Karma Pizza with Casey Rhodes," Theo ground out; he was getting really tired of this. "I am looking for Nick Russell so that he can undo this spell, or whatever it is, that he did to me."

"Right," the woman said, giving both her co-workers a look, "you're blue. I'm Vida, pink. These are Xander, green and Chip, yellow. Nick's at our headquarters, so it won't take him long to get here."

"Great," Theo said, "thanks. You're right, I am blue. It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure is mine," Vida replied with a smile.

"Nick's on his way," Chip piped up, Theo glanced over in time to see Chip shoving something in his pocket. "Are you ok, Theo? You seem kind of jumpy."

"What, oh," Theo raised a shoulder, "I'm just worried that Dai Shi will attack while I'm here. I mean, I know my team…"

"We can understand that," Xander said. "If you don't mind me asking, what did happen to you?"

"I said it wasn't fair that Casey got to go off planet all the time and Casey invited me to come along." Theo replied with a sigh, "Casey did warn me, but I didn't really believe him. We met Nick and Conner the first night and I got dragged around for the next three. Since I was the first one to pass out from all the drinking we did, this was my punishment."

"Didn't they warn you about drinking with reds?" Vida asked.

"We weren't planning to run into Nick and Conner," Theo said, "besides, it's not the first time I've been drinking."

"Theo!" Nick strode into the Rock Porium, as he reached their group; he smirked, "Why so blue?"

"Fix this," Theo said, "Casey said you could do it."

"You have to say it first," Nick told him.

"No." Theo replied.

"Come on, Theo, all you have to do is say the magic phrase and this will all go away."

"Like I believe you, fix this!"

"Say it."

"What's he supposed to say?" Chip asked.

"I can't tell you," Nick said, "it would invalidate Theo having to say it."

"Why won't you say it?" Vida asked, looking at Theo.

"It's stupid," Theo said, "and I don't believe it and I am _never_ saying it."

"I guess you like blue then, because it won't go away until you say it," Nick replied.

"Why not just say it in the bathroom or something?" Xander asked, "If you don't want people to hear you say it."

"I tried that," Theo muttered.

"He can't," Nick said, "part of the requirement is that he has to say it in front of Rangers, clearly, in English." He smiled proudly, "I think I do some of my best work with alcohol in me."

"We won't tell anyone," Vida said, with another look at Xander and Chip, "you can say it here and not a word will get back to your team."

"Casey knows what I'm supposed to say," Theo replied.

"Which is why you have to say it," Nick said.

Theo looked around, "You guys swear, nobody hears about this from you?"

"Ranger's honor," Vida, Chip and Xander said in unison.

"On my honor," Nick agreed.

"Fine," Theo said. He took a deep breath, because he really didn't want to have to say this. "Reds rule and Blues drool." He announced. Blue and white sparkles filled his vision before he could close them and when his vision cleared, he looked at his hands. They were normal. He reached behind him and confirmed that his tail was gone.

"Nicholas Bowen Russell how could you?"

A pretty young woman who bore a strong resemblance to Vida stood at the end of the comic books. "Madison?" Nick said, "I thought you were at school this weekend."

Madison lifted her chin as her arms crossed over her blue top, "Surprise." She smiled at Theo, "Hi, I'm Madison, blue ranger. You must be Theo. I apologize for our red ranger. He has issues."

"Hi," Theo said. He would have said more, but his morpher beeped. Glancing around the empty store as the other Rangers tensed, he slipped his sunglasses on, "This is Theo, what's going on?"

"I don't care if you are pink with orange stripes, we need you in Ocean Bluff as fast as you can drive." Casey said, "We've got trouble."

"I'm on my way," Theo said.

"Trouble?" Vida asked.

"Yes," Theo said.

"We'll get you back," Nick said, pulling out his morpher. Theo eyed him for a moment. "No pranks, Theo."

"RJ's jeep," Theo began.

"I'll drive it back," Nick said, "I promise, no scratches."

Theo took a breath and nodded, "Let's do this."

As the purple light of the spell obscured his vision, Theo found himself hoping everything hadn't completely fallen apart in his absence from JKP.


	3. Eye of the Tiger

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

A/N: Um...yeah, apparently I'm not done with Big Boys yet...this is Theo's revenge. Casey becomes a tiger at night. Adolescent and adorable. WARNING THIS CHAPTER HAS SLASH! You have been warned.

* * *

Theo leaned over the kitchen railing to watch as RJ followed Casey down the hall to their bedrooms. "You know," he called making Casey turn, "you could just end it right now."

Casey shook his head and turned to hurry down the hall. "Why do you do that?" Lilly asked.

Theo turned to look as Lilly leaned on the rail beside him. "Because," Theo said, "it's not about revenge anymore. I didn't realize how big a deal this would be for him."

"Can't Madison fix it?" Lilly asked as Dom and Fran came up from JKP.

"Madison and the Mystics are on a mission for Udonna. They're out of touch until God knows when." Theo replied.

"Casey, _don't run_!" RJ called.

The watchers fell silent as a half-grown tiger cub came running out of the hallway. Amused smiles graced all their faces as the cub slid on the wood floor. As his slide ended, the cub looked up at them and leapt for the stairs. "Here we go again," Dom announced before lunging for the tiger.

For the next few hours, Fran and the Rangers used tricks, treats and toys to keep the hyperactive Casey out of the JKP kitchen. As RJ had put it, tiger karma and kitchen karma were too opposite to be permitted to combine.

Theo translated that, as RJ's budget couldn't handle it if Casey ate all the pepperoni and Canadian bacon again.

Finally, RJ collapsed in his chair and Casey crawled into his lap, purring. Theo sat down on the stairs with Lilly as Fran and Dom left. Fran was heading home and Dom was 'on a mission for ice cream'.

Theo relaxed against the railing as Casey's purr grew louder, remembering the first time Dom had had a snack attack when Fran left, and had returned without food. He claimed he ate it on the way home, but Theo was certain the Rhino was just walking Fran home for Fran and not for food.

By the time Dom returned, sans ice cream, Theo had gone from relaxing to drowsing without even noticing. Even Lilly was leaning back against his knees and asleep. Dom woke them up and then got RJ and Casey moving.

As they headed for their bedrooms, Theo noticed Casey sitting by RJ's door, while RJ leaned on the door frame. The tiger watched as Lily entered her room, and then as Dom went to his. Theo stepped in his room as the tiger looked at him. "Come on," RJ said, his voice soft, but easily carried in the quiet loft. "Time for bed, Casey."

The next morning, Casey and Theo had time off for training. By mutual consent, they headed down to the beach. As they walked along the sand, looking for a good spot to spar, Theo said, "I'm sorry, Casey."

Casey looked over at him, "What for?"

"The whole tiger thing," Theo replied, "I thought it would be funny."

Casey grinned, "I'm not mad, Theo. I was, but not anymore."

"Really?" Theo asked.

"You gave me a chance to have something I was afraid to ask for," Casey said.

"I don't understand," Theo said.

"I can't say it," Casey said, "because as soon as I tell RJ, he'll have to admit he knows. Then it's a responsibility for both of us. We'll have to do something about it."

Theo considered that, then sighed, "RJ told Dom that any relationship you two had would be on your terms." He said, "It's not that RJ doesn't want you, Casey, it's that he doesn't want to be the one to cross the teacher-student boundaries. If you want him, you have to ask."

"How do you know that?" Casey asked.

"Meditation does not translate as sleep," Theo replied, mimicking one exceptionally pedantic master with whom he had studied meditation.

"In other words," Casey said, "you eavesdrop."

Theo smiled, "I drop no eaves, Casey."

"Are you sure about RJ?" Casey asked, looking vulnerable for a moment.

"Casey, RJ loves you. He listens to you. He lets you sit in his chair. He doesn't even let Dom get away with sitting in his chair." Theo replied.

Theo left Casey in the loft while he dragged RJ out of JKP's kitchen. Then, leaning on the railing to watch and ensure nobody else invaded their privacy, he leaned against the rail and munch on a stolen breadstick.

"What's wrong?" RJ asked as he approached Casey.

Casey swallowed, "RJ, there's something I need to tell you." He glanced up at Theo and then said, "How do I love you, let me count the ways. I love you like a lyric loves a melody. I am completely wrapped up in you."

"Casey," RJ said.

Casey put his finger on RJ's lips, silencing him. "If I didn't mean that, I would have said it already." He said softly. "As cheesy as it is, RJ, it's a fairly accurate summary of my feelings. Because it meant something for me to say it, I had to make sure I wasn't going to destroy everything when I said it."

Red and Blue sparkles flowed off Casey, swirling to form purple letters, _RJ + Casey_ and then they vanished.

Theo turned away, because his part was done. He picked up an apron and hat from the rack in the kitchen and headed down to start making pizzas, whistling.

_Mischief Managed._


End file.
